


Line Change

by Aj4668



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Cheese, Did I mention cheese, Fluff, M/M, What-If, awkward boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 10:57:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8621896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aj4668/pseuds/Aj4668
Summary: Kent is nervous. Maybe anxious is a better word, but he supposes the word doesn’t matter. His stomach is in knots, his palms are clammy, and he may go ahead and puke at any moment. 
The Falcs are playing the Aces in Providence, and it’s the first time that he, Alexei, Jack and Bitty will all be together in the same place since he and Alexei started dating about six months ago.





	

**Author's Note:**

>   
>  Beta'd by the awesome [fearlessly](http://archiveofourown.org/users/fearlessly) and [Measureless](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Measureless). An extra thanks to Measureless for the SUPER fast turn around. :) All mistakes are definitely my own.
> 
> This is my first story in this fandom. Let me know what you think, but please be gentle. :)  
> 

 

 

  
  


Kent is nervous. Maybe anxious is a better word, but he supposes the word doesn’t matter. His stomach is in knots, his palms are clammy, and he may go ahead and puke at any moment. 

The Falcs are playing the Aces in Providence, and it’s the first time that he, Alexei, Jack and Bitty will all be together in the same place since he and Alexei started dating about six months ago. 

Some smarmy tabloid was going to out Jack a little over a year ago, so to control the story, he came out himself first. Since there had been so many rumors about Kent and Jack, the story was big for a day or two, but then fell flat with a resounding thud. Many said they already knew it, or at least suspected. There were a few who were surprised, but most were supportive. Kent came out shortly after, alongside Alexei. That was bigger news by far.

Kent and Alexei had been friendly acquaintances before then, but in the aftermath of three gay NHL players coming out in a week’s time, Bitty becoming the first gay captain of an NCAA hockey team and headlines that read, ‘HOCKEY: A GAY SPORT?’, Kent and Alexei became a lot closer. Within six months, they were dating.

It had always felt awkward for Kent to hang out with Jack and Bitty, so they hadn’t, making this the first time they were all together. 

 

Kent sneaks out of the guest team’s locker room before the game and walks down a long hallway. He finds Alexei standing just around a corner, as they had prearranged. He isn’t in his pads or uniform yet, just in sweats and a t-shirt. Alexei grabs Kent with one arm, and pulls him in, kissing him hard and fast.

Kent grins. “Kiss for luck?”

“Falcs not need luck. We’re going to be winning,” he says, grinning just as widely as Kent is. Alexei is always grinning. If Kent is happy, he is happy. Well, he is usually happy anyway. That’s just who Alexei is. Kent loves that about him.

“We’ll see about that.” 

“I’m see you on ice, and then after.” Alexei kisses him again, probably to shut him up about their plans after the game, Kent figures.

“Fuck, do we really have to? Why do we have to go to dinner with Jack and Bitty?” Yes, he was whining. No, it wasn’t becoming, and no, he didn’t care. 

“Zimmboni is nice. Bitty is nice. Dinner going to be nice.” Alexei just grins again.

Swoops walks by, and mutters, “Quit fraternizing with the enemy, Parse,” as he passes. 

Kent just laughs. “Yeah, whatever. I’ll be in the locker room in a minute.” He looks at Alexei and says, “I gotta go. See you on the ice. Love you.”

“Love you, too. I’m being sorry when we win.”

Kent laughs. “No you won’t.”

“A little sorry.”

“I’ll be a little sorry when the Aces win, then.” He kisses Alexei a last time, and turns and goes back to his locker room to get ready for the game.

  


After a hard-fought game, the Aces win 2-1. Kent is actually a little sorry. He wonders if Jack still takes every loss personally, and if this will make dinner tense, or more so than it otherwise would have been.

See, the thing is that Kent still wonders what might have been. He still sometimes thinks that it should have been Jack and him together, not Jack with Bitty and Alexei with him. His therapist tells him this is normal, but is it? He’s happy, really happy, with Alexei, so why does he still wonder about Jack? 

  


Fuck. He’s fucked. Maybe he’ll throw up on his shoes after all, and that will be a good reason for dinner to be called off.

 

He doesn’t, so after doing press where the inevitable questions about playing against Jack come up, (as if he hasn’t been asked that every time he’s played against Jack since Jack joined the NHL three years ago) he finds Alexei so they can go to dinner and get this farce over with. 

  


He may need an attitude adjustment.

 

They meet Jack and Bitty at a cute little seafood place on the water. They are seated in a booth that has high seat backs for privacy. Kent hasn’t puked yet, so he’s counting it as a win. 

Their server asks for their drink orders, and Kent orders a beer before the server can finish her question. Everyone laughs. Alexei orders the same, Bitty orders a glass of wine, and Jack says he’s fine with just water. Kent almost chirps him. Almost. He swallows it down with the ever-present vomit, and just smiles. This isn’t awkward. Not at all.

  


Wait. They are talking. He should listen.

“… got a call from my publisher. My cookbook should be out in time for Christmas sales,” Bitty is saying. 

“This is exciting! I’m going to be buying several copies! Will you be signing them for me?” Alexei is grinning widely, clearly proud of his friend.

“Of course I will, but you don’t have to buy them. I’ll give you one.”

“No! Bitty is being bad businessman, isn’t he, Kent?”

Kent smiles, but it’s his media smile. Alexei sees right through it. “Yeah, don’t give away books when you can sell them. I, uh, didn’t know you wrote a cookbook.” He’s trying, dammit.

“Yes,” Bitty says with a soft grin. “It’s really cooking and baking basics, targeted at college students, or maybe those who are in their first apartments and don’t have extensive kitchens or experience.”

“Kent, Bitty wrote cookbook for you,” Alexei says with a hearty laugh and a gentle elbow to Kent’s side.

“Shut up. I have a great kitchen.”

“Yes, and no knowledge in use of it.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kent rolls his eyes, and is thankful when the server brings their drinks. He takes a long pull of his beer. Jack notices, and raises an eyebrow at him, but says nothing.

“Can I tell you our specials for the day?” Their server runs through her list, takes their orders, and leaves. It gives Kent a few minutes to study Jack and Bitty. He notices how Jack’s hand is on Bitty’s leg, and when they are discussing the specials, Jack leans down to Bitty, and it gives one the impression that they are having an intimate moment, not a simple discussion about food.

  
  


Kent knows that he and Alexei haven’t been together nearly as long. They don’t have the same natural ease yet, especially now that the off-season is over and they live several states apart; but he’s envious. He wonders if things had been different, would he and Jack – their mature versions, not their young and troubled versions – have the same ease. 

He sighs. Alexei leans in and whispers, “You not being okay? If you really not okay, we leave.”

“No, I’m okay. Really. But thanks, love.” Kent touches Alexei’s cheek and smiles, genuinely this time. Alexei can see it, and smiles back.

“So how are Bob and Alicia, Jack? I haven’t talked to them in quite awhile,” Kent says.

“Yes, I know,” Jack says dryly. “They were going to come to the game tonight, but Maman has a cold, so they decided against it. All week long, all I heard about was you, and how you don’t call, you don’t write.” 

Kent winces. “I know. I owe both of them a couple of emails and texts. I need to be better about staying in touch with them.” Kent loves Bob and Alicia. They are more than just his ex’s parents. They had parented him in many ways, and for a long time, Kent had thought they’d be his in-laws. He knows they still think of him as family, but now they have Bitty, and Bitty is… Well, Bitty has taken Kent’s place, rightfully so he supposes, but it’s another thing he wonders about on the “what might have been” list. 

Alexei’s parents are in Russia. Alexei can’t go back, and though Kent has Skyped with them, it isn’t the same. He knows nothing is ever the same, and that different can be better, but how do you get better than Bob and Alicia Zimmermann? Of course, it could be a lot worse. His boyfriend is Russian. His parents’ could have disowned him, or worse. Instead, they have accepted Kent as their son’s partner with open arms and have been nothing less than kind and loving. The language barrier is interesting and often hilarious, but they are great people.

Another sigh. Alexei is busy talking to Jack about a team member’s new girlfriend, and misses it this time, but Bitty doesn’t. 

“Kent? Is there a problem?” he asks quietly.

“No. I’m fine. It’s just, well, fuck.”

“Really? As bad as all that?”

“No, just having a hard time getting out of my head,” Kent mutters.

“Yeah, I can understand that. Is it weird being here with us?” Damn, Bitty is nothing if not direct.

“Yeah, it is,” Kent says, deciding to be as direct as Bitty. He takes a drink of his beer, which is now empty. Fuck. Where is the server? He looks around, doesn't see her.

“I thought it might be. I almost didn’t want to come tonight,” Bitty confesses, finishing his glass of wine.

“Want another drink? I’m getting more.” Bitty nods in response. “Yeah, I didn’t either. Alexei somehow managed to talk me into it.”

“Yeah, I bet he did,” Bitty laughed.

“Ha, not like that. He used those big eyes and stupid logic.”

Bitty laughed. “Jack did the same. It’s not horrible though, is it?”

“No. Why didn’t you want to come?” Kent hadn’t thought of this aspect.

“Really? Having dinner with my boyfriend’s hot, NHL Stanley Cup winning ex? The one he shares so much history with? That he’s known since he was a kid? That his parents still miss? That sound like a fun night to you?”

“Oh fuck, yeah no, not really. But Bitty, he’s all about you now. You’re it for him. You’re good to each other, good for each other.” 

Bitty smiles under the praise, and says, “Thanks. It helps to hear that you see that. I see that with you and Tater.”

“Really?”

“Yes. The way he talks about you is so beautiful.” Their server, who is bringing their food, interrupts him. Kent orders more drinks for everyone, and the server walks away.

“Thanks for saying that, Bitty. Sometimes it’s hard… Well, it’s just hard.”

“The ‘what might have beens’?”

“Fuck, are you in my head?” Kent laughs.

“No, but Jack has wondered, too. Oh don’t look so surprised,” he laughs when he sees Kent’s eyes widen. “I think that’s natural. I don’t really have an ex to wonder about that way, but I wonder about things like what if I had chosen another college than Samwell, or if I had never started playing hockey and kept figure skating. We all have the ‘what ifs’ that can drive us mad.”

“Yeah, guess so.”

“But I meant it. It helps to see you and Tater together. You seem so natural.”

“Really, how?”

“Like now. You aren’t talking to each other, but your hand is on his leg, and his is stroking your hair and neck.” Huh, Kent suddenly notices this, and smiles. “He’s very tender with you, as you are with him. You may not have known it, but after his car accident, at the hospital, you were on speaker.”

  


Alexei’s car accident last summer had amounted to nothing more than a minor fender bender, but at the time, Kent was in Vegas and didn’t know that; he was terrified. Jack and Bitty were at the hospital with Alexei, who was getting checked as a precaution after the team doctors insisted on it. Kent was a mess, and made Jack take pics of Alexei to prove that he had no serious injuries. It was then that he knew he loved him, and apparently, everyone in the room knew it, too.

“Yeah, no I didn’t know that.” Kent feels the heat on his face.

“It was very sweet, Kent. When y’all got off the phone, Alexei was crying, and just said, ‘He loves me. Kent Parson loves me’. It was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever witnessed.”

Kent’s eyes are now filling with tears. He didn’t know that part of the story, and he realizes he has been so busy focusing on what he might be missing that he has been losing sight of the beauty of what he has. He has everything. He and Jack never shared what he and Alexei share. They never would, and that’s okay. He’s meant to share it with Alexei. Even more, he wants to share it with him, and only him. He’s glad that he and Alexei are experiencing this for the first time together. 

He squeezes Alexei’s leg. Alexei turns to him, sees his tears, and frowns. “Babe, you not being okay? We leave?”

“No, I’m good, really good. Better than I’ve been in a long time. I love you so much.” Kent leans up to kiss Alexei, and then says, “We can talk about it later. I just really love you.”

“I love you, babe. You are sure you are being okay?” Alexei looks at Bitty accusingly. Bitty only laughs.

“I didn’t do anything. He’s just happy, I promise. You make him happy.” Bitty sighs, and looks at Jack. “Oh these boys. They’ll all be the death of me someday.”

Jack just shakes his head, as he remains absolutely clueless about what’s happening.

“Yes, babe, I’m so okay" Kent says to Alexei, leaning in for a quick kiss. "I promise I’m really fine. I have everything I could ever want.”  
He really does, and he doesn’t even need to vomit anymore. It’s a win any way you count it.

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm on [Tumblr](http://aj4668.tumblr.com/).


End file.
